The inventor and the attorneys know of no pertinent prior art. The invention here disclosed and claimed is a DRIVE MECHANISM which avoids some of the disadvantages of conventional gear drives, and an intended application is to military vehicles to reduce the signature of the equipment which is a function of noise generated during operation.
Gear drives operate with generation of high impact forces as the teeth make contact. Not only is the mechanical shock destructive of the involved gears, but it causes an undesirable level of noise. The noise is objectionable for at least three reasons: signature, i.e., early detection by enemy surveillance; damage to the hearing of crew members; and impairment of communication between crew members of any given equipment and between unit commanders and their several vehicles such as tanks, tank destroyers, missile launchers, and the like.